President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a deal with the law firm that employs former second gentleman Doug Emhoff, which the president said includes the firm, Willkie Farr & Gallagher, agreeing to provide at least $100 million in pro bono legal services throughout his second term.
It’s the third example of high-profile firms cutting deals with the White House as Trump has targeted firms that have done work with his perceived political enemies.
Willkie’s pro bono work in recent years has been especially attention-grabbing because it included a defamation win against Rudy Giuliani following his work for Trump after the 2020 election.
The firm represented two Georgia election workers Giuliani defamed by falsely claiming they switched votes against Trump while ballot counting. The free legal work the firm provided for the women amounted to tens of millions of dollars. After the firm chased Giuliani for a year to give up all his valuable property to compensate the women, Giuliani and the women reached an undisclosed settlement.
Emhoff, the husband of former Vice President Kamala Harris, told Willkie’s leadership he disagreed with their decision to seek a deal with the Trump administration, a person familiar with matter told CNN, telling the law firm they should fight this.
Tuesday afternoon, before the agreement was announced, Emhoff participated in an event at Georgetown Law School in his personal capacity where he addressed the matter.
It’s the third example of high-profile firms cutting deals with the White House as Trump has targeted firms that have done work with his perceived political enemies.
Willkie’s pro bono work in recent years has been especially attention-grabbing because it included a defamation win against Rudy Giuliani following his work for Trump after the 2020 election.
The firm represented two Georgia election workers Giuliani defamed by falsely claiming they switched votes against Trump while ballot counting. The free legal work the firm provided for the women amounted to tens of millions of dollars. After the firm chased Giuliani for a year to give up all his valuable property to compensate the women, Giuliani and the women reached an undisclosed settlement.
Emhoff, the husband of former Vice President Kamala Harris, told Willkie’s leadership he disagreed with their decision to seek a deal with the Trump administration, a person familiar with matter told CNN, telling the law firm they should fight this.
Tuesday afternoon, before the agreement was announced, Emhoff participated in an event at Georgetown Law School in his personal capacity where he addressed the matter.
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